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UKRAINIAN WOMEN'S DRESS XVII-XVIII CENTURY by MILDRED MILANOWICZ Illustrated by ANTON MALUCA Researchers in the field of Uk rainian costume, some recently arrived in this country, speak with fond memories of t'he “Evenings of National Costumes”—'historic al fashion shows hekl annually in W estern Ukraine before the out- F ig u r e 1 break of World W ar II. For these annual displays provided many concrete links with the his torical past of Ukraine. Costumes for the shows were barely begged from their owners, who often had to be persuaded at some length to dig up the family heirloom chest of carved wood in which these treasures had safely reposed in its earthly vault through World W ar I. Thus, from the family cof fer of a Ukrainian peasant family in Bucovina, there came to light an exact replica of the outer cloak, called “Kozhukh”, in the same cut and in the same striped grey-and-miaroon floral patterned cloth as was painted in the por trait of Polkovn.ik Paliy’s Wife (around 1699), hanging in the F ig u r e % Tar no v sky Museum in Cherni- hov, (fig. 3). The cloak in the portrait, painted in the two-dim ensional “icon” style, and show ing the dress of that century, bore resemblance to the dress of the former Princely era. The above- mentioned peasant’s treasured kozhukh, had the same cut and pattern as its 17th century proto type, although probably of more modest material. The portrait of Paliy’s Wife shows a headdress of an intricate ly woven scarf. Such headdresses of white linen were still worn by married women in many parts of Ukraine up until World W ar II. They were often several yards in length, hand woven, often with elaborate gold or white shadow- patterned ends, and had a centu- ries-old-history: the more intric ately wound and styled the head piece and the longer the flowing ends, the more wealthy, respec table and dignified the matron wearing it. Called a “kyibalka,” the headdress took various forms and was oftenest seen up until a few decades ago as a “chipetz”, the almost-compulsory hair-cov- F ig u r e 3 ering of a married woman, Later- day fringed woolen kerchiefs be came elaborate turbans, utilizing “kybal.ka” technique of winding. The same headdresses were re corded in sketches made during the latter part of the 18th century by Alexander Regelman, (a Ger man historian and army engineer who spent the better part of his life in Ukraine), who copied the dresses of Ukrainian women from all social levels. From these sket ches, copied above, we know what the Ukrainian noblewoman, the middle class townswoman and the
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